Family Ties
Directed: Kim Tae-yong
Starring: So-ri Moon, Hyo-jin Kong
Three different stories told at different times and tied together at the end. Seen at the Portland International Film Festival.
The first story is about a young woman who is excited when her brother who has been away with no communication for five years until he arrives with a much older woman has his wife. She looks old enough to be his mother. He expects his sister to take them both in while he talks about big plans, yet has no follow through. She tries to be nice to him and his new wife, but she is not happy. There is a lot of tension and build up before it all comes to a head.
In the second story, another young woman is very angry at her life in general. She is trying very hard to get a job in Japan so she can move away from her family. She is angry that her mom has seemed to carry on affair after affair with married men. When she finds out her mother is terminally ill, she doesn’t take the news very well. She still wants to leave, but her mother wants her to take care of her very young son she just had with one of the married men.
In the third story, there is the young daughter of the wife in the first story (from a previous marriage) dating the young son from the second story, which is what ties it all together. She is very cute and sweet while he is very jealous of her being friendly with everyone. He obviously has some leftover issues with his mother.
Characters from the first two parts show up in the third part in very amusing ways. I actually enjoyed the very end very much when the older characters showed up again, and everything was tied together. There were some pretty funny bits, but it was also sweet. It was very trying to get to that part though. Some of the characters were not very likeable, yet you still wanted them to be happy. I guess it worked in that sense, but it didn’t make me love it.
Rating: B-